Gore and the O-Line last year were failures at tough yardage. 49ers were one of the worst at getting a 1st Down on 3rd and short on the ground. Or punching it in the endzone.

The 2011 rankings page I saw last year is only 2012 now but can still look at Gore splits.
51 rushes in the redzone. 2.1 avg
28 rushes at the 10 or closer 1.3 avg
That is like Michael Turner bad.

In the close range the Line is more about positioning than just brute force. You need to be on point. The O-Line / scheme wasn't working.

2011 needed improvement across the board. Smith, runners, receivers.
It did get better in 2012.

And the offense looking better. You saw an illusion.

In 5 of Smith's 8 games the 49ers were dominate and game was in hand in the 2nd half and the team doesn't practice the Patriots run up the score philosophy.
Smith took 3 sacks up 16+ vs GB and AZ
Kaepernick didn't have 1 all year. Mostly because the team was rarely consistent enough to build a lead in the first half or 3Qs.

So let me get this straight? A RB's started averaging less per carry in the red zone? How could this happen? Never mind that for example MVP Adrian Peterson's splits were 2.1 and 1.5 in the same category this season, Alex Smith was so hamstrung by his teammates not getting it done.

They had dropped passes sure, but you know what other team dropped 6.4% of their passes this year like the 49ers did last year? The highest scoring one.

The 49ers offense improved in the playoffs, and all the posturing you try doesn't change that. Kaepernick showed up in his biggest tests, and showed the ability to move the ball through the air in ways that Smith never could. I don't care what the stats say, but the 49ers were a better offensive team with Kap than Smith.

However, despite all of this the fact that Smith a 7 year NFL player doesn't have a discernable statistical difference vs. a guy who is making his first 8 NFL starts coming from a pistol offense tells you all you need to know right there. Smith was the biggest issue with the 49ers, and going forward they are much better off without him.

Even if some of these excuses are valid, if a QB needs perfect conditions to be effective he's not a good QB. A QB will never have a dominant OL, a dominant defense, Good Skill players, his health, and a good system all at the same time. At any given point one of those are going to be weak links, it's up to the QB to pick up that slack, and Smith never proved able to do it.

However, despite all of this the fact that Smith a 7 year NFL player doesn't have a discernable statistical difference vs. a guy who is making his first 8 NFL starts coming from a pistol offense tells you all you need to know right there. Smith was the biggest issue with the 49ers, and going forward they are much better off without him.

Even if some of these excuses are valid, if a QB needs perfect conditions to be effective he's not a good QB. A QB will never have a dominant OL, a dominant defense, Good Skill players, his health, and a good system all at the same time. At any given point one of those are going to be weak links, it's up to the QB to pick up that slack, and Smith never proved able to do it.

Kaepernick was 25yo in his 2nd year after playing 4 years in college.
And does it not cut both ways that Kaepernick couldn't do more than the Alex Smith offense which I guess was unspectacular?

Who is saying perfect?

dominant OL
a dominant defense
Good Skill players
his health
good system

2005-2010 he rarely had any of those around him.

To be fair a problem was also Smith isn't a great QB but only a handful of those guys exist at 1 time. I got over the hope for greatness years ago but still can give him a fair shake.

Remember 2008 when some Chiefs fans were saying that Tyler Thigpen was the QB of the future and others were arguing that Brodie Croyle deserved another shot?

God, that was funny.

Oh, I remember. The Chiefs were running a high school-style offense because Thigpen was too stupid to comprehend an NFL playbook. People wanted stickboy Croyle, who was so great in college, was the 86th ranked scoring offense (a lot of their points were defensive and special teams plays) back when there were only 119 teams) Dark days indeed.

These Smith-haters ain't gonna see that!
Even though it was with the same team, same OL who never missed a start anywhere, same season same coach..... and even though opposing defenses had little film on Kapernick compared to Smith, these stats are...... pretty close?

Kaepernick was 25yo in his 2nd year after playing 4 years in college.
And does it not cut both ways that Kaepernick couldn't do more than the Alex Smith offense which I guess was unspectacular?

Well in 3 years if Kaepernick is playing like he did in those first 8 games I'm sure fans will be calling for his head too. However, there is a different set of expectations for a guy just getting his feet wet to the NFL game vs. a guy who is making his 75th start in the NFL. It really doesn't cut both ways in this case.

Also, Kap showed up in his biggest games. I think there is fairly a point to be made when somebody has their best games in prime time against the Patriots and Bears, and in the playoffs vs. a guy who has his best games against Buffalo and Arizona.

Actually, considering VidalSassoon is a beauty product, I think he was hitting on you...

Exactly.

V just needs to get over the "wo is me" mentality here.
Have faith in your man.
He had a nice program for a long time there in the city of Brotherly love.
Sure it went ill at the end, but that happens over time.

Alex Smith is a huge upgrade for the Chefs, was a former #1 overall pick for a reason (picked ahead of Mr Rodgers of course), and his play has steadily improved each of the past 3 seasons.

Most 2nd round picks don't improve a team.
Adding this QB will improve this team.

I used to like the Chiefs, and want to root for Smith.
But this crybaby mentality from some Chief fans almost has me rooting for Oakland and San Diego in that division.

I could give two shits whether or not you root for the Raiders or Chargers. Go ahead. You're still being a dunce.

And sorry, but no coach or GM gets blind trust from me anymore. If the first thing you do when you come to KC is trade a ******* 2nd and future 3rd for Alex Smith, you've just killed all good will you had.

Reid is going to put more burden on Smith's shoulders than he has ever had. Smith is a very good bus driver, but I can't see him carrying a team on his back. Assuming he stays healthy for the entire season (quite a dubious assumption), he'll have career highs in yards and INTs.

Brilliant letting one of Scott Pioli's henchmen have his own team to ruin. One of the premier GM jobs in the NFL and it gets handed to a stupid **** who makes three facepalm moves for every good one. Awesome. Just like handing a new Mercedes to a 16 year old girl who's already been in three wrecks.